The Troubled Spirit
|image= JKM Website]] |production= |producer(s)= |story=Johnny Byrne |script=Johnny Byrne |director=Ray Austin |imdbref=tt0706355 |guests= |previous_production=The Last Enemy |next_production=Space Brain |episode=A22 |airdate=5 February 1976 |previous_release= |next_release= |story_date(s)= |previous_story=Space Brain |next_story=The Testament of Arkadia }} =Episode Quote= "It's here now. In this place. It's waiting to kill again - to kill us all!" =Plot Summary= While attempting to communicate telepathically with his plants, botanist Dan Mateo collapses and a strange force sweeps through the base. Investigating, Koenig learns that Mateo believes that man has some affinity with plants, an affinity that can be exploited by tapping into certain wave patterns in the human brain that are identical to those generated by plant life. Mateo quickly recovers, but is forbidden from conducting any further experiments by hydroponics head Dr. Warren. A heated argument ensues and later Warren is confronted by a horribly scarred ghost figure that oddly resembles Mateo. Warren is found dead shortly after and Bergman realises that Alpha is being terrorised by a psychic manifestation which seeks atonement for a death which has yet to take place! =Filming Schedule= Wednesday, November 20th - Wednesday, December 4th, 1974 =Original UK Airdate= Saturday, January 5th, 1976 (ATV Midlands) =Notes= The distinctive sitar music which features prominently in this episode was specially composed and recorded for Space:1999 by Jim Sullivan, the artist seen performing the sitar recital in the pre-credits sequence. Giancarlo Prete was the first of four Italian guest actors to be cast in the series to fulfil the terms of the co-financing contract between ITC and RAI. Each well-known in their native Italy but unheard of by audiences in the UK and the USA, the others were Carla Romanelli (in Space Brain), Gianni Garko (in Dragon's Domain) and Orso Maria Guerrini (in The Testament Of Arkadia). Prete and Romanelli both also guested in Return Of The Saint when a similar deal was struck between ITC and RAI to co-finance that series too. The Bassett Sweet Cigarette Card of this episode (No.42) was withdrawn from circulation shortly after issue following complaints about its depiction of the scarred Mateo - consequently it is extremely rare and valuable to collectors. =Guest Artists= Giancarlo Prete was originally cast in Space:1999 in the regular role of Italian chief Eagle pilot Captain Alfonso Catani, but at the eleventh hour it transpired that he could not be released from his contract for the Italian film La Nottata which would be filmed at the same time, so the role was recast with Nick Tate as Alan Carter. Prete made his film debut in Mister X (1966) and appeared extensively throughout the 1970s and 80s in Italian films such as The Price Of Death (1971), Confessions Of A Police Captain (1971), Three Musketeers Of The West (1972), Con Men (1972), Snow Job (1972), The Black Bellied Tarantula (1972), Massacre In Rome (1973), La Nottata (1974), The Anonymous Avenger (1974), The Loves And Times Of Scaramouche (1975), Messalina! Messalina! (1977) and The New Barbarians (1982). To English-speaking audiences, however, he is perhaps best-known for his roles in the Return Of The Saint episode The Village That Sold Its Soul, the mini-series War And Remembrance (in which he appeared as Dr. Castelnuovo) and the films Tornado (1983), Escape From The Bronx (1985), Detective School Dropouts (1985) and Ladyhawke (1985). More recently, he became a dubbing director preparing American television series such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The X Files and Northern Exposure for screening on Italian television. He died in Rome on March 8th, 2001, aged 58. Hilary Dwyer made her film debut as Sara in Witchfinder General (1968), but had previously been seen as Number Seventy Three in the Hammer Into Anvil episode of The Prisoner. She went on to appear in Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), Thin Air (1969), The Oblong Box (1969), Wuthering Heights (1970) and Cry Of The Banshee (1970) before landing the role of Jennifer Hadleigh in the second season of Hadleigh. Anthony Nicholls is fondly remembered for his role as Commander Tremayne in the ITC action series The Champions. He made his film debut in The Guinea Pig (1948) and went on to appear in The Hasty Heart (1949), The Franchise Affair (1950), The House Of The Arrow (1953), Dunkirk (1958), Victim (1961), Night Of The Eagle (1962), Othello (1965), A Man For All Seasons (1966) and If... (1968). He also guest-starred in episodes of The Saint, Man In A Suitcase and Callan. After The Champions, he appeared in The Battle Of Britain (1969), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), O Lucky Man! (1973) and The Omen (1976). His role in Space:1999 was one of his last - he died in March 1977, aged 69. =Regular Cast= *John Koenig *Helena Russell *Victor Bergman *Paul Morrow *Alan Carter *Sandra Benes *Kano *Bob Mathias *Tanya =Additional Cast= *Dan Mateo - Giancarlo Prete *Laura Adams - Hilary Dwyer *Dr. James Warren - Anthony Nicholls *Operative Kate - Sarah Bullen *Spirit Mateo - Val Musetti *Sitarist - Jim Sullivan *Main Mission Operatives - Binu Balini, Sarah Bullen, Loftus Burton, Andrew Dempsey *Security Guards - Tony Allyn, Quentin Pierre *Botanists - Vernon Morris, Xanthi Gardner *Medic - Christopher Williams *Nurses - Jeannie Galston, Judith Hepburn, Jan Rennison *Technicians - Robert Atiko, Eddy Nedari, Richard Shore =References= Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes